Browsing by Subject "Awareness"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Assessing Millennial Brand Equity for the Minnesota Historical Society
    (University of Minnesota Tourism Center, 2015-06-30) Linnemanstons, Katherine; Schneider, Ingrid; Gartner, William
    The University of Minnesota Tourism Center worked with the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) to investigate its brand equity with millennials (defined as those born between 1980 and 1993). Specifically, the Tourism Center assessed customer-based brand equity with regards to four dimensions: Awareness, Image, Quality and Loyalty. Results from this research will allow promotions and marketing staff to align perceived brand identity with intended brand identity among millennials. Similarly, development professionals can use the information to better understand how to connect with millennials.
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    A case for mindfulness practice in fostering multicultural competence in counseling
    (2014-08) Tourek, Samuel Christopher
    Clear and alarming disparities in mental health service and utilization exist between ethnic minorities and non-minorities. Research in the field of counseling psychology has been vigilant in naming this issue, and multicultural counseling competence (MCC) has been identified as an essential, ethical component to best practice in therapy. However, despite these efforts, action has been inadequate and slow to address the needs of substantial portions of the population. A contributing factor in the delay to amend these disparities is the lack of clarity about exactly what constitutes MCC, and how it is achieved, demonstrated and/or experienced. The present study offers mindfulness meditation as a potential vehicle for cultivating multicultural competence in therapists. Research in the field that combines MCC and mindfulness is virtually non-existent. As such, this study explores the relationship between MCC and mindfulness among 123 therapists at college and university counseling centers across the country. Survey data collected included demographic information, and the completion of the Multicultural Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills Survey- Counselor Edition- Revised Outcome (MAKSS-CE-R) and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Correlation and regression analyses were conducted for all participants and also for White-identified participants only. Data analysis revealed that positive relationships do exist between the MAKSS-CE-R and the FFMQ, and also between their respective subscales. Exploratory analyses revealed Gender to be a significant moderator of FFM-Observing when predicting MAKSS-CE-R-Total score among all participants and among White-identified participants. FFM-Non-judging was also moderated by Gender as a significant predictor variable among White-identified therapists. Results suggest that MCC and mindfulness are related, and that mindfulness may account for a respectable amount of the variance in MCC score as measured by the MAKSS-CE-R.
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    Pricing under Imperfect Awareness
    (2019-05) Roose Guthmann, Rafael
    The study of price determination in markets has been a defining element of the science of economics. In this dissertation, I have developed models of strategic pricing under imperfect awareness. Imperfect awareness in this context means that decision makers are not aware of every trader operating in the market, instead, trading is constrained to the set of traders which the decision maker is aware of. The degree of trader's awareness can evolve over time. I study pricing dynamics in such markets. I show that prices and allocations approximate perfect competition as awareness increases in a variety of environments. In Chapter 2, I study pricing in a dynamic duopoly. Buyers may be imperfectly aware of operating sellers, but they can gain awareness regarding sellers through a word-of-mouth matching mechanism. I show that there is a unique subgame perfect equilibrium. The unique equilibrium features price dispersion with asymmetric price posting strategies. I show that, depending on the parameters, the distribution of prices of one seller first order stochastically dominates the prices posted by the other seller. I also show that the price posting strategies of each seller depend on his or her relative degree of market experience. In Chapter 3, I extend the model developed in Chapter 2 to an infinite horizon environment with a continuum of sellers. I show that a Markov perfect equilibrium exists, is unique, and features asymmetric price posting strategies. In this equilibrium entrants post prices that are strictly lower than prices posted by more mature competitors, average markups decline over time as the market for the product matures, and the distribution of prices features substantial price dispersion at both the individual and aggregate levels. This model explains a several deviations from competitive conditions that are empirically observed in product markets as being caused by imperfect awareness. In Chapter 4, I study a market with a continuum of buyers and sellers (such as the model of Chapter 3). In this case, I focus on a static setting and introduce differentiated products. Consumers have imperfect awareness regarding product varieties. Even in this market with differentiated products, I show that the equilibrium approximates perfect competition when consumers are aware about a high number of product varieties. It concludes that, when unawareness about product varieties exist, markups increase when the degree of product differentiation is higher, but for any degree of product differentiation, markups vanish when unawareness about varieties vanish.